Four names have floated to the surface as possible nominees to fill the most important law enforcement job in Chicago, that of U.S. attorney. It's the prerogative of the president to nominate candidates for these jobs nationwide.

Three of the four are well-qualified men who have experience in the office. The fourth is a well-qualified woman, Maggie Hickey, Illinois' executive inspector general, who also has experience in the federal prosecutor's office here.

This critical job requires someone of strong spine and steely intellect to battle political corruption and a culture of sleaze in a city and state known for that endless parade of defrocked public officials trudging off to prison. It requires a driven prosecutor, not influenced by political considerations, to attack the crisis of horrifying gun violence and bloodshed destroying families across this metropolis. The U.S. attorney also has a role in improving the accountability of law enforcement agencies, the Chicago Police Department included.

We're sure that many qualities and qualifications set these candidates apart. But there's one factor that should not be — should never be — part of this decision: Partisan politics.

The White House has settled on a nominee, U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin's spokeswoman Emily Hampsten tells us. That candidate will be vetted by a screening committee set up by Durbin and his fellow Illinois Democrat, Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

But Hickey reportedly is out of the running. Why? "Both Sen. Durbin and Sen. Duckworth said they wanted somebody nonpartisan in this job, and that includes Republicans, Democrats or Independents," Hampsten told us. "No one who has worked for an elected official, just to keep the slates clean."

Hmm. That's a new one on us.

Durbin and Duckworth can exclude a candidate because of what's known as the Senate's "blue slip" protocol. That allows home state senators to nix a nominee.

Are Durbin and Duckworth admirably keeping politics out of this choice? Or are they inventing rules that exclude potentially excellent candidates — Hickey included?

Hickey's current job involves uncovering fraud and corruption in government — experience that would serve her admirably if she were to return to the U.S. attorney's office. Does Hickey serve in the administration of a Republican governor? Yes, thanks to a lot of Democrats: She was confirmed in a bipartisan 52-0 vote by the Illinois Senate.

She's not an elected official, and her job as inspector general is about as apolitical as it could be. She has a superb resume and reputation; if someone ever has uttered a negative word about her professionalism or incorruptibility, we haven't heard it. Many years ago she worked on the staff of U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., who wasn't Durbin's closest political ally in Washington.

So we ask:

Should Maggie Hickey be disqualified from the U.S. attorney job because she works to assure integrity in Illinois government?

Isn't that just a backdoor way of letting politics influence who gets hired? How about a little less attention to political affiliation, or the lack thereof, and more attention to finding the best candidate for the job?

This editorial isn't an endorsement of Hickey or of any of the other reported candidates, John Lausch, Michael Scudder and Andrew Porter.

We'll say again what we said when former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald stepped down in 2012, and when his successor, Zachary Fardon, exited earlier this year:

The U.S. attorney must be blind to politics if he or she is to root out the festering corruption that has sent dozens of Chicago aldermen and other city and state officials to the Big House.

He or she must be relentless and innovative in the attack on the grotesque gang and gun violence that claims too many young lives.

This office doesn't call for a Democrat or a Republican, a non-Democrat or a non-Republican. It calls for a fighter.